


My Hat and I

by Inkribbon796



Series: Masks and Maladies [124]
Category: Markiplier TV (Web Series)
Genre: Baby’s first hat, Domestic Fluff, M/M, kid adventurer, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29215509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkribbon796/pseuds/Inkribbon796
Summary: Dark is forcing Wilford to clean out his “storage” room and in the end result is that Illinois gets a hat that’s a couple sizes too big for his small self, but just the right size for the young adult version of himself.
Relationships: darkstache
Series: Masks and Maladies [124]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538131
Comments: 11
Kudos: 18





	My Hat and I

~::~ 12 Years Ago ~::~

Illinois was laying on his stomach, reading a book in the living room as his feet idly kicked up behind him.

It was quiet for now in the living room, the rest of his adopted siblings playing somewhere else.

The young boy was particularly excited about something in the book and raced into Dark’s still open office to show Dark.

“Dark, Dark, look at—” Illinois held up the book in excitement but saw that Dark wasn’t in his office. Which was weird, because he was always in his office.

“Dark?” Illinois called out in trepidation, he didn’t like not knowing where Dark was. So he started wandering around, and when he got upstairs he heard Dark and Wil loudly talking — arguing? — about something in the attic.

Slowly and cautiously he began walking up the stairs, flinching and stopping when there was a creak in the old steps. A part of him still expected one of them to get upset when he suddenly made noise.

“Wil, you don’t need this, it’s garbage,” Dark argued. “It’s disgusting.”

“Of course I need them,” Wil scoffed with a wry chuckle. “I have them, don’t I? Ergo I need them.”

Illinois finally got to the top of the stairs, seeing that Dark was holding up a stack of old slightly used napkins. He looked just frustrated, not angry, so Illinois got a little braver.

“You used them, you could have just transferred the numbers somewhere else,” Dark ordered.

“I forgot,” Wil defended.

Dark rolled his eyes and threw the napkins into a portal. “You absolutely disgust me sometimes. The clothes and trinkets I get, but not those.”

“Well then you’d understand if we went down to Brazil and you could meet the locals,” Wil promised.

“I’m not going back,” Dark spat. “That’s what I have the network for.”

“You are missing out,” Wil chuckled. “I bet Illinois would understand. Would you like to go to Brazil my boy?”

Dark rolled his eyes, “The children are not going anywhere, I can’t have the authorities finding out about them.”

“Bahh!” Wil dismissed and crouched down in front of Illinois. “Well, my boy?”

Illinois reflexively took a step back, “Uhm, where’s Braz— uh, that place you were talking about?”

Wilford’s eyes seemed to tinkle with absolute glee. “Why my boy, do I have some stories for you.”

Dark kept an eye on the two of them, using Wil’s distraction as an opportunity to throw out actual garbage. He let Wil keep the pictures and actual souvenirs but anything damaged beyond repair and actual trash got thrown away.

“Now my boy, I’ve been to many a place but Brazil is beautiful, and so are its people,” Wilford winked at Illinois as he led him over to a couple crates, popping one of them open and digging through it. In the process he made an even bigger mess.

Dark groaned and rolled his eyes, but watched the two of them as Will kept talking and telling stories about the places he’d been.

Wilford dug a little dark green fedora out of the crate and set it on Illinois’s head, “And no good adventurer is without his hat.”

Upon seeing Illinois actually in the hat, Wil clapped in excitement, “Oh look, Darky, he looks so adorable. I didn’t even realize it had that little bow.”

“It’s a bit big on him,” Dark observed.

“ _Ehhhh,_ he’ll grow into it,” Wil dismissed. “Doesn’t he look darling?”

Dark was about to say something dismissive but then his eyes met Illinois’s. The boy head was nervously peeking out from underneath the hat, clearly looking to Dark for approval. For love.

And Dark’s blue soul just about melted, emotions from Damien’s side of his soul were already causing Dark to get steadily attached to the boy.

“I do have to admit that, yes, he does,” Dark agreed, his aura visibly approaching where Illinois could see so it wouldn’t startle him. Then, ever so gently, he angled the hat so that Illinois could see better. Even if the boy’s head was still clearly too small for it.

For now.

Wilford went on to talk about the places he’d been and the stories, although heavily exaggerated, he had.

With that the world opened up to a young boy who had never thought of a world outside of what he could see.

Sri Lanka. Cairo. Venice. Hawaii.

Places that, for now, the boy saw on maps and in pictures, but one day with a trusty fedora perched on his head and a head swimming with adventure, he would set foot himself.


End file.
